The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1887-01-04

| emerged into the shadow of pines so
/ gloomy that twilight seemed suddenly
| to have fallen. There was a crashing
! of bushes, as of some heavy body push
| ing itself through. | tried TO run. but
the roughness of the ground made me
stumble at every step. The noise came
nearer. / knew that il could be nothing
else buta bear. and every other anxiety
was swallowed up in present terror. |
remembered that grizzlies do not climb
unless the tree is neither too large nor
too small. Ten yards u the left stood
slender tree, with trunk clear for
fifteen feet.
/ sprang toward it, and although /
had never been able to climb tree be-
fore, | climbed now without a moment
of hesitation, and scrambled TO a seat
among the branches. / shook so vio-
lently that l had to hold on by main
force to keep from falling. / had been
there probably thirty seconds when
there shuffied from the bushes witt,
awkward but impressive gait, a mon
strous grizzly bear.
had dropped my gun in the excite
ment, and even had | kept it | should
not have dared 10 fire. As the great
beast shambled along. | saw that ne
was lame. Ii was old CluEfoot. the
terror and autocrat of the mountains.
He was headed directly for my tree.
My blood curdled and my breath
stopped. l have no distinct recollec-
ton of the next few seconds. He APP
preached within ten feet of my hiding
side to side as if aware of an unseen
foe. Then he passed on and was lost
among the trees. | remained notion
less for nearly an hour, fearing To de-
scend. Then / crept nOiseleSsly in the
| direction whence old Clubfoot had
come. My rifle, which must have
fallen against the PROSTATE trunk hy
which found it, was broken short off
at the breech, the bear having struck
at it with his paw in passing.
Imagine my surprise when emerged
from among the trees TO find the same
little grass plot where had killed the
deer. At first ! could not believe il,
but there was the spring with the rock
by which had sat. and the remains of
my luncheon lay scattered Oh the
ground. l was tired. as well as weak
and nervous, after the fright the bear
had given me. But it was becoming
question of life and death, and | was
not willing TO die. Carefully gather
ing the scraps of bread and meat that |
had thrown away, resolved TO follow
the nearest canon down to its mouth,
which / was sure would lead me out
into the open country somewhere.
The sides were so steep that | had TO
let myself down by clinging to roots
and overhanging branches. plodded
on doggedlv. In the heart of the can
ons unnumbered horrors lurked, and
the rocky walls rose on each side of me
toweriDgly insurmountable. / began
to wonder if had better 90 back. when
L was startled to see open before me
what seemed almost a bOttOmless PIT.
The declivity was probably not more
than fifteen feet, but it looked very ter
rible TO me. could not leap that dis
lance, nor could | climb around the
steep and slippery sides. A tall tree
grew from the lower level, however.
and by leaning far out | caught a
branch and thus climbed down.
| felt certain now that / must be
very near the valley floor, for / had
been descending long time. Behind
me, in the hollows of the canon. the
shadows ofevening were already lying.
/ had sprained my ankle in the de-
scent-an injury that at any other time
would have disabled me, but now could
not be allowed to impede my progress.
/ limped along, hoping and fully ex-
pecting to see, at turning not far off,
the valley before me, the green fields
and the dwellings of men. How were
my hopes Knocked when | found, in
stead, precipice fully sixty feet deep
With cry of horror, / drew back and
wrung my hands in despair. Had l
been saved from the jaws of a savage
beast only to die more terribly by starv-
alton, or to be dashed to pieces in a
rocky chasm? Nature had never
seemed to me so pitilesS. The stony
walls looked down at me in awful
silence. The yawning pTecipice at my
feet seemed waiting with a sickening
expectancy.
Before this / had been afraid TO
speak aloud, for fear of rousing some
wild animal, but now | should be glad
to see or hear any thing with life, even
if it were a savage. l shouted myself
hoarse, but only strange echoes an
swered me from the frowning woods.
The shadows grew deeper. l must DO
something thing.
1t occurred to me to make a rope of
some of my clothing and thus descend.
1t was the work of but a moment to
take off my long stockings and cite
them together, and then TO. add my
scarf. All this made only four or five
yards IN length. / tore the skirt of
my stout waterproof suit into strips
which tied together, until | had what
seemed enough. Then, fastening a
stone to one end. / crept to the edge
and let the rope down to measure the
distance. 1t still lacked little. The